Fitbit Charge 2

The Fitbit Charge 2 builds on the success of the Charge HR — the best selling fitness tracker in 2015, according to The NPD Group – with a new sleek design and innovative features.

The Charge 2 has a large OLED touchscreen that's four times bigger than the Charge HR. It displays all of your daily activity, like steps, calories burned and active minutes. The design lets you customize your Fitbit with changeable clock faces and a range of interchangeable watch strap options. It is water and sweat resistant, but will not withstand being submerged in water — so you'll be okay if you get caught in the rain but don't leave it on when swimming or showering.

This Fitbit allows you to maximize your workouts with continuous heart rate tracking on your wrist, so you don't need to wear an annoying chest strap to get feedback. Its SmartTrack technology automatically recognizes what type of exercise you're doing, (it can tell the difference between running and biking, weights or interval workouts, for example). It also provides you with exercise-specific data — because who needs to know how many steps they have taken while doing yoga! The tracker gives you friendly reminders to get up and move so that you reach at least 250 steps every hour. It also automatically tracks your sleep and can be set to wake you with a silent vibrating alarm.

The two elements that really set the Charge 2 apart from previous Fitbit products are the Connected GPS feature and its Cardio Fitness Score. By enabling Connected GPS, the Fitbit uses your phone's GPS to map the route of your run or bike ride, as well as provide you with real-time stats such as pace and distance with improved accuracy. Using the continuous heart rate tracking, Fitbit provides you with an estimated VO2 max score — called your Cardio Fitness Level — which shows your overall fitness compared with people of the same gender and age.

The Test Engineers in the Good Housekeeping Institute were able to find moments of calm thanks to the built in guided breathing sessions, which set a personalized breathing rate based on your heart rate. You can select a 2 or 5 minute session and the large screen provides a visual of when you should be inhaling or exhaling, as well as continuously displaying your heart rate.

Bottom Line: The Charge 2 is perfect for the anyone, from the avid fitness guru to someone who is looking to improve their health and fitness, and at $149.95 we think it comes at a great price. If Fitbit continue to make products like this then we don't see them giving up their "Top Fitness Tracker" crown anytime soon!

The Fitbit Charge 2 comes in two styles — with the classic fitness band available in September for $149.95 and the special edition series coming in October for $179.95.